Pistorius Seeks Bail as Police Investigator Faces Charges

By Andres R. Martinez and Franz Wild -
Feb 21, 2013

South African police replaced the
lead investigator in the Oscar Pistorius murder case as the
double-amputee track star fought for a third day to win bail
before standing trial for killing his girlfriend.

Hilton Botha, who is facing seven charges of attempted
murder, was replaced by Lieutenant-General Vinesh Moonoo, Police
Commissioner Riah Phiyega told reporters today in Pretoria, the
capital. Charges against him for a 2011 incident were reinstated
yesterday, said police spokesman Neville Malila.

“We do not lynch people; we are not prejudicing
anything,” Phiyega said. “Botha has done what he was supposed
to do. Now we are going into the long haul.”

The announcement came after the bail hearing in a Pretoria
Magistrates court adjourned until tomorrow. Botha gave evidence
yesterday that Pistorius, 26, and his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp
argued before he shot her dead. Pistorius’s lawyer said Botha’s
evidence is “tainted.”

The prosecution has disputed Pistorius’s account of how he
shot Steenkamp, 29, through a toilet door at his home at about 3
a.m. on Valentine’s Day, believing her to be a burglar. If
convicted of premeditated murder, Pistorius, dubbed the “Blade
Runner” because of his prosthetic running blades, faces a
maximum term of life in prison, according to Magistrate Desmond
Nair.

Falls Short

“Botha was not a credible witness,” Barry Roux, the
athlete’s lawyer, said today after the magistrate recalled the
investigator to the stand. “We cannot sit back and take comfort
he is telling the full truth.”

Prosecutor Gerrie Nel said Botha is facing seven attempted
murder charges relating to an incident when he and two others
shot at a minibus taxi that they were trying to stop. Nair
didn’t question the investigator on the charges, which will be
heard in court in May.

The allegations against Botha won’t affect the case against
Pistorius, Moonoo told reporters in Pretoria.

“He will still be a witness in the case,” he said. “As
an investigator he is seasoned.”

Botha conceded yesterday that Pistorius’s account of the
events wasn’t inconsistent with the evidence.

Testimony presented so far falls short of proving “the
existence of pre-planned murder,” Roux said. “There was no
evidence that shows applicant ever knew it was Reeva.”

Unlicensed Ammunition

The prosecution will add a charge of possession of
unlicensed ammunition, Nel said yesterday, after lead police
investigator Hilton Botha found .38 caliber ammunition in a safe
at his home. The bullets belong to Pistorius’s father, Roux
said.

The state considers Pistorius a flight risk and opposes
bail, Botha said. The athlete’s family said in a statement that
his “iconic status internationally” made it highly unlikely
that he poses such a risk.

Pistorius earns 5.6 million rand ($630,000) a year, has
investments of 1 million rand and property worth more than 8
million rand, according to his affidavit.

Nike Inc. (NKE), the world’s largest sporting-goods company, said
it was suspending its contract with Pistorius, a winner of six
Paralympic gold medals and the first amputee runner to compete
at an the Olympic Games in London last year.

“We believe Oscar Pistorius should be afforded due process
and we will continue to monitor the situation closely,”
Seruscka Naidoo, a South African spokeswoman for the company,
said in an e-mailed statement today.

Contract Suspended

Pistorius, who was born without fibulas and had both legs
amputated below the knee at 11 months old, was included on Time
magazine’s list of the world’s 100 most-influential people.

Luxottica Group SpA (LUX)’s Oakley said in a e-mailed statement
two days ago that it suspended its contract with him “effective
immediately.” Clarins SA’s Thierry Mugler perfume brand said on
Twitter that it was “removing all campaigns featuring Oscar
Pistorius, out of respect and sympathy to families involved in
the tragedy.”

The prosecution backtracked on Botha’s testimony that
testosterone was found at Pistorius’s home. Under cross
examination by Roux, Botha said he didn’t know what the
substance was and that it had to be tested. National Prosecuting
Authority spokesman Medupe Simasiku said in a text message late
yesterday that it was not testosterone and he didn’t know its
name.

Pistorius’s family rejected suggestions that he had used
banned drugs.

Banned Drugs

“Oscar was not using any drugs listed on the World Anti-
Doping Agency banned substances, usage of which would ban him
from competing in athletics competitions,” his uncle, Arnold
Pistorius, said late yesterday in a statement.

Drug tests carried out on Pistorius by the International
Paralympic Committee on Aug. 25 and during the Paralympic Games
on Sept. 8 were negative, a spokeswoman for the Bonn-based
organization said yesterday in a phone interview. She declined
to identify herself in line with the IPC’s policy.

The runner and his model girlfriend had argued between 2
a.m. and 3 a.m. on the morning of the shooting, Botha said in
court yesterday, citing a witness. The witness was about 600
meters (650 yards) away and didn’t identify Pistorius and
Steenkamp as those speaking, he said. Under cross examination,
Botha changed his estimate of the distance to close to 300
meters.

The lights in the house were on when another witness heard
gun shots, followed by screams and another two or three shots,
Botha said.

Bathroom Layout

Because of the layout of the bathroom, the shots fired
couldn’t have hit Steenkamp where she was sitting if he had been
shooting through the toilet door as Pistorius testified, Nel
said.

“If you walk in directly and fire at the door, you miss
the toilet,” Nel said. Pistorius’s shots hit Steenkamp above
the ear, the right elbow and the right hip, Botha said.

Pistorius said in an affidavit read out in court on Feb. 18
that Steenkamp was doing yoga exercises and he was watching TV
on his bed on the night of the shooting.

In the early hours of the morning, Pistorius went to get a
fan on his bedroom balcony and heard a noise in the bathroom, he
said. He picked up his 9 mm pistol because he thought Steenkamp
was in bed and an intruder had entered though an open window.

‘Grave Danger’

Walking on his stumps, he shot through the door, thinking
he was in “grave danger,” Pistorius said.

Pistorius said he broke through the door with a cricket bat
after realizing it may have been Steenkamp, his girlfriend of
three months, and carried her body downstairs to seek help.
Police found a blood-spattered cricket bat by the sink, Botha
said.

The position of the bullet holes indicates Pistorius was
shooting in a downward trajectory, suggesting he had already put
on his prosthetic limbs, Botha said.

While Pistorius said in the affidavit he was wary of
burglars because he had previously been the victim of crime, he
had never reported any incidents, Botha said.